How To Choose New Carpet Like A Pro!

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(Free Information by Consumer Advocate - No Flooring Sales)

Best & Worst Places to Buy Carpet?

The Best and Worst Places to Purchase New Carpet and Flooring in 2024? It's nearly impossible for homeowners to know in advance if a Carpet Retailer is honest and reliable. This free report reveals who, what, where and how I rate various Carpet & Flooring retailers, wholesalers and resellers on a Scale From One to Five. ( 5 Stars is the Best!)

For more than 15 years, I've been building a unique compilation of trustworthy carpet and flooring retailers. This stems from my encounters with numerous scams and rip-offs in the retail flooring businesses.

I no longer sell or install carpet or flooring products, my goal is to inform homeowners about how to make wise and informed choices! Drawing upon over 40 years of industry experience, I am excited to share my findings!

The Best and Worst Places to Purchase New Carpet and Flooring in 2024?

Check Out My Carpet & Flooring Retailer Countdown to Number One!

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#9 Wholesale Flooring Clubs

These are Carpet, Flooring and Surface Suppliers for Trade Professionals and their Clients. Most are franchises and are locally owned and operated. Most Wholesale Clubs have corporate websites and feature local showrooms with knowledgeable staff to assist homeowners with material choices.

Homeowners can visit their showroom and buy products from these wholesale distributors ONLY if they are invited by a trade member. Members typically include builders, contractors, remodelers, installers, interior designers, architects, real estate professionals, and more. Some clubs carry a larger selection of products to cater to home remodeling of all types. Others limit their products to carpet, flooring and window treatments. Here are some examples of wholesale clubs:

Contract Furnishings Mart or CFM
ProSource
Cascade Pacific Flooring Distributors
The Floor Club
Complete Flooring Source
Keystone Flooring Products

Homeowners can only gain access to their showroom and all the benefits they have to offer by working with a paid member of their Wholesale Club. This could be a carpet installer, a real estate agent or a remodeling contractor to name a few.

Wholesale Clubs are real handy for contractors who want to have a nice place to send their clients. Personally I think the Trade Members are the real winners here. They get the benefit of having a nice showroom with knowledgeable staff and not have to pay to operate it. They also make money (varied commission) from the sale of flooring products to their clients (you).

Homeowners may be required to make arrangements to obtain qualified installation for any materials ordered through a Wholesale Club, and pay for those services separately. Buying through a Wholesale Club Member could be a great way to save money on new carpet and flooring. It is handy to have everything you need on display with someone there to answer all your questions.

In the end, it all comes down to how much you are being charged for the service. There is no direct fee to you, but all their products are priced to cover their operating costs.

#8 Home Improvement Warehouses

I buy many household items, tools and supplies from sources like Home Depot and Lowe's but I would never buy new carpet from them. Here's a few reasons why:

1) They use private labels to prevent you from comparison shopping,

2) They farm-out their installations to other companies,

3) They require payment in-full before they place your order,

4) They charge a fee to measure your home.

Should you ever have a carpet defect or installation problem home improvement stores have you contact the carpet manufacturer directly or contact the contracted installation company directly to seek a remedy. Home improvement stores just take your order and collect the money. You are on your own to file a claim with the appropriate party before the limited warranty expires. The process of contacting the carpet manufacturer or the subcontracted installation company can take weeks to get your complaint resolved, if ever.

If you must buy from a home improvement store, be prepared by documenting everything from start to finish. Take before and after photos of the carpet and keep all receipts for the original carpet and padding purchase and required professional cleanings. If you don't, you could easily end up stuck with a carpet that you are unhappy with and a warranty coverage denial letter. Learn more about buying carpet from home improvement stores.

#7 Carpet Outlet Stores

If you want to do-it-all-yourself and save a lot of money... create a detailed diagram of your home with all the room measurements and bring your truck, some rope and a tarp if it might rain! These local carpet outlet stores offer low prices and have dozens of rolls of carpet in-stock. They cater mostly to homeowners on a tight budget, landlords and property managers. Be prepared to hire your own installer and pay them directly.

If I were looking for the absolute cheapest price on carpet, a local carpet warehouse or outlet store is where I would go. Do a Google search for "Discount Carpet Stores Near Me". Many of these retailers sell mainly to contractors, landlords and property management companies for apartments and rentals.

Carpet Outlet Stores have plenty of inexpensive, lower-quality, defective or second-grade materials. Have them roll out the carpet before you agree to buy it to make sure there are no obvious defects.

You would be wise to read their guarantee carefully to make sure you know what you are getting into. Get anything they promise in writing before you write the check - because once you buy it, you own it. no refunds.

The main problem when buying carpet from this type of retailer, is that they may not have the same type, style or color of carpet available tomorrow. That means if you need to buy more of the exact same carpet you bought today, it may not be available for you to buy tomorrow. Once a roll of carpet is sold, the same type, style and dye lot (color) may be gone forever. No two rolls of carpet are exactly the same. There will be differences in color or style that may only become obvious after it is installed in your home.

These carpet sellers may offer in-house installation or they might just hand you a list of local installers for you to call and hire on your own. If you have to arrange for your own installation you must negotiate with the installer and pay them directly. Free checklist: Ten Questions for Independent Carpet Installers (before you hire)

Don't expect too much. If you pay just $12.99 per yard for carpet, don't expect it to last forever. Even though you may get a great deal on discounted carpet from this source, remember there is a reason why it's being offered at a significant discount. Learn more: How To Choose Carpet Remnants Wisely

**#6 Buying From a Carpet Installer**

Some carpet layers have longstanding relationships with local carpet dealers, or may have a way to order new carpet and padding at near wholesale prices from local suppliers. Carpet layers often end up with sizable leftovers from bigger carpet jobs because carpet so many salespeople over-measure their jobs. When there is a lot of carpet leftover the installer may take it home and try to sell it on Craigslist or in your local newspaper.

If you find an installer who has some leftover carpet or other flooring materials available at a very low price, you need to understand that they have a limited supply of those materials and may have no way of getting any more of the exact same color or style in the future. There is no manufacturer's warranty on these materials whatsoever and no recourse if you end up unhappy with the carpet performance. Still, you can find some real bargains this way. It could take some time and effort to make something like this work out in your favor.

As with any contractor you hire to do work on your property, I suggest you check references, verify their contractors license and business liability insurance to make sure they are all current and up-to-date. This might be an inexpensive way to go if you are just doing one or two rooms or if you need to replace carpet or flooring for a rental property. How to Verify a Contractor's License

**#5 Franchised Carpet Resellers**

These franchised carpet dealers are often locally-owned but are hooked up with a national carpet distributor or co-op to increase their buying power and decrease their shipping costs. They put private labels on all their samples to prevent you from comparison shopping at other local carpet stores. Some re-brand their carpets and may not reveal the actual manufacturer of their products.

It is often much more difficult to get carpet the manufacturer specifications from these franchised resellers, and it makes it much more difficult to comparison shop their products. Still, you can still negotiate a fair deal if you know what you are doing and don't rely on their salespeople to make choices for you.

Many franchises do not provide installation to limit their liability, so you may have to locate a good installation crew and pay them separately. You will have to work a bit harder to schedule and orchestrate everything, and may end up paying a little more for material buying from a franchised flooring dealer. They usually have an outdated list of local independent carpet and flooring installers for you to try to contact and they do offer a wide range of quality flooring products. How to Locate a Qualified Independent Carpet Installer?

**#4 1-800 Carpet Wholesalers**

These are carpet and flooring wholesalers who will send you small carpet samples through the mail. You must buy their carpet virtually "sight unseen" (other than a small swatch) unless you live close enough to visit their warehouse. There are no refunds on discounted carpets so you really have to be fully aware of all their fine print. The cheapest place to buy carpet is not always the best deal.

You can save money if you buy from a reputable carpet wholesaler as long as you know exactly what you are buying and fully understand how the entire carpet buying process works.

You need to understand what is expected of you, especially regarding the delivery of the carpet and what you are required to do if you need to return a roll of carpet. Some 1-800 carpet outlets stores are reputable and some are not. The burden of being knowledgeable about your purchase falls solely upon you.

#3 Online Flooring Distributors

Are you willing to buy carpet or flooring materials based on a photo of the product and a detailed description shown on a website? Need Hardwoods, Ceramic Tile, Luxury Vinyl Tile or Laminate Flooring? These Online Only businesses move a large amount of product everyday and can be a smart way to go if you are careful and do your homework. They offer all types and grades of flooring products usually sold in larger quantities. You can't buy just a small amount, you have to buy the whole box or case as they have minimum order requirements.

Buying first-quality goods is always more costly but the final outcome is always better than if you try to save money buying second-grade materials. It's impossible to know how much material to order when you have no idea the amount of unusable product you will receive. The amount of warped, cracked, chipped, off-color, unusable or damaged product you receive can be significant and you may have 20% waste or more.

This means you have to order more materials just to be sure you have enough to finish the job. It can be a real nightmare when you have to re-order more materials because you did not have enough to finish the job due to the large amount of unforeseen waste.

Shipping costs can be high too and if you are not happy with the product you order you may have to pay dearly to ship it back and also pay a hefty re-stocking fee. Some Online Flooring Distributors are reputable and some are not, and knowing who to trust is the hard part.

Even if you succeed in buying a good quality flooring product at a discount, you still have to arrange for your own installation or install it yourself if you are so inclined. Read all the fine print carefully and understand their restocking fees, and return shipping costs before you agree to buy.

**#2 Shop-at-Home Carpet Retailers**

Many people love the convenience of not having to travel from store to store in search of the perfect type, color and style of carpet or flooring and prefer having samples brought to their home. Shopping at home makes matching colors easier under the optimum lighting conditions in your home. Many locally-owned carpet dealers are now offering shop-at-home services and this can a smart and convenient way to go for those who don't want to drive all around town and deal with conflicting and confusing salespeople.

The main downside to using a shop-at-home service may be the limited selection. Their vehicles can only carry so many carpet samples, but if you know in advance what carpet type and style you are most interested in, they can come to your home better prepared to show you what you might like.

There are many reputable carpet dealers that offer quality products, knowledgeable salespeople and reasonable prices but they are harder to find today because the shop-at-home concept is still a fairly new concept. I have several reputable locally-owned shop-at-home retailers listed in my Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory that I am proud to recommend. Here's who I believe are Best places to buy new carpet and flooring.

Buyer Beware: There are a few shop-at-home companies that I don't recommend mainly because... 1. They sell inferior products 2. Ask unreasonably high prices 3. Use high-pressure salespeople. I'm sure you have seen their ads offering huge discounts. I suggest you avoid TV commercials from companies offering deals such as... "Three Rooms of Carpet for the Price of One!".

**#1 Locally-Owned Carpet Stores**

5 Stars (The Best!)

With a good selection of carpet remnants stood up along the back wall, some in-stock rolls of carpet on display, a neat and tidy showroom and a good selection of brand name carpet samples to choose from. I believe buying locally is the safest way to have your carpet replaced and also get a fair price on carpet, padding and installation.

These long-standing neighborhood carpet and flooring retailers order first-quality carpet directly from the manufacturer. They provide first-class customer service, have fair & square pricing, have knowledgeable and helpful staff, provide free accurate measuring and guaranteed installation. Should you ever have a carpet problem or complaint they will do whatever it takes to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.

Not all locally-owned flooring dealers are honest and reputable. There are quite a few unsavory carpet retailers out there. The problem is, it's hard to tell the good ones from the bad ones. That's why I have compiled my own "hand-picked" list of reputable locally-owned Carpet stores that I am proud to recommend to my readers.

Every carpet store I recommend must pass my own special set of strict rules and requirements before I list them in my directory. My list of reliable recommended Carpet Stores Near Me.

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Secrets To Your Carpet Success

Not only must you obtain qualified carpet installation, you must also choose the right grade of carpet and padding too. Just as important is making sure you buy from an honest and reputable carpet and flooring dealer. These are just a few of the secrets to choosing new carpet like a pro! Top 5 Secrets to Carpet Buying Success

Learn more:

How Much Should Carpet Cost?
What Grade of Carpet Do I Need? Free Foot-Traffic Score
Selecting the Right Padding
Popular Carpet Styles
Ten Questions for Independent Carpet Installers (before you hire)
How to Measure for Carpet Yourself
Carpet Warranties Explained
Is Free Carpet Installation A Scam?
Print My FREE Carpet Shopping Form
Reputable Carpet Stores Near Me?

~ My List of Carpet & Flooring Stores ~

"I Only Recommend Locally-Owned Stores with Superior Service, Quality Products and Qualified Installers"